Teachers at the Academy say 95% of students walked into the Felling secondary school on Tuesday were in correct uniform, but some girls arrived in trousers which did not match the school’s guidelines and were sent home to get changed. This, the school says, was arranged in agreement with parents.

Bruce Renwick’s 15-year-old daughter, Ellen, was one of the pupils who was pulled up.

He says he got a call from the school at 8.30am saying around 100 girls were being sent home. The school will only say it is a “very small number”.

Bruce describes Ellen’s skinny trousers as “deep-black” and maintains that they don’t look like jeans.

L-R Emma Warwick, 15, Bruce Renwick and his daughter Ellen Renwick, 15 . Bruce Renwick claims the new uniform rules are ridiculous after his daughter Ellen and her friend Emma were sent home from Thomas Hepburn Academy, Gateshead, for wearing the wrong type of trousers

He bought them after spending a day trying to find something suitable for the Year-11 pupil in Newcastle and Gateshead.

He said: “When I went looking for school trousers they had every size but the older size, I literally couldn’t get any.”

Bruce says he pleaded with the school to let his daughter attend lessons this week if he could sort out new trousers by Monday.

But, he says, the school told him Ellen could either go home or be taught in the school’s isolation unit.

The school, he says, is refusing to compromise. However, the school told the Chronicle they don’t have an isolation unit.

He said: “They’re offering isolation or go home when, I asked for a week to find alternative trousers, it’s just wrong.

“I’m really worked up by about this, my daughter’s got a perfect record at school.”

The school says those who need to wear correct uniform are “still in lessons” and have until Monday to get the right trousers.

Thomas Hepburn Community Academy’s statement says: “We have started a new school year and are ensuring that all our students are in full uniform. Details about the uniform and the need for students to adhere to the uniform policy were sent to all parents in July.

L-R Emma Warwick, 15 and Ellen Renwick, 15

“Today, a number of students have come to school wearing the wrong uniform. A small number have gone home to change into the correct uniform, with parental agreement.

“However, there are some girls who came to school wearing the wrong trousers and those students have been given until next Monday to address this. The uniform is a black or grey skirt or trousers – not fashion trousers or leggings.

“We have found it necessary to exclude a very small number of students for poor and unacceptable behaviour, which has nothing to do with non-adherence to the uniform policy.

“Our uniform requirements are the same as those expected by the vast majority of secondary schools, and at Thomas Hepburn Academy we expect students to fully comply with the requirements.

“We are delighted that 95% of students have come to the academy in full uniform and I find it very disappointing that a very small number of parents have not supported the academy or their child in meeting these normal expectations.”